Final Moments
by Mako-clb
Summary: Nephrite remembers something very important just before his death. Rated PG for mild language. manga based


Author's Notes: This story is based on events from Act 5 of the first volume of the Sailor Moon manga (as translated by TokyoPop). For those that don't know, this is the issue where Lita is revealed to be Sailor Jupiter. Also, in the manga version, Nephrite was still the villain when Jupiter arrived, not Zoisite. This story is told from first-person POV, so be warned that sometimes the story rambles, just like people's thoughts.

Disclaimer: The Sailor Moon manga was created by Naoko Takeuchi, and I thank her for creating such wonderful characters.

  
  


**Final Moments**

By Corina "Mako" Borsuk

Dammit! Things were going so well. My plan to use those mannequins at the bridal shop to enthral young men and steal their energy, and that of any girl who might care for them, was working better than I expected. Beryl was pleased with the energy I gathered, and even conceded to use some of it to try to revive Jadeite. That is, if I could gather even more for her and our dark mistress. And, that tall girl, she had more energy in her than all the humans I had drained so far put together. If there was any energy source besides the mysterious Silver Crystal that could bring Jadeite back to life, I was sure this girl was it.

But, those ridiculous Sailor girls showed up, and somehow the tall girl broke my spell. Beryl will not be pleased… Damn! Beryl will be furious. That girl is a Sailor Soldier, too. I should have known that no ordinary human could have that much energy. And now I've practically led the others to her. As if three of them weren't bad enough, I'm not looking forward to facing four of them. Though they don't look it, they must be very powerful. How else could they have killed Jadeite and defeated my last plan? Yet, if I flee now, it will only give them more time to increase their power, and perhaps discover our true plans. Not to mention Beryl's wrath if I return to the Dark Kingdom only to report failure and a new Sailor.

No, I will reveal myself and attack. If I focus on the new Soldier, I may be able to take her before she can adjust to her transformation. The logical plan is to use the element of surprise, and attack before they realize I have been watching them from the roof of the bridal shop. I don't. My sense of honor and my ego simply won't allow it.

I step out of the darkness into the wane light of the crescent moon and the harsher light of the street lamps. "That's just my shadow," I say, referring to the bridal mannequin I magically animated, which now lies broken at the feet of the tallest and newest Sailor. "I'm over here."

I watch as the girls I have come to despise turn their heads up to look in my direction, and I see the surprise in their eyes. I present an imposing figure in my military uniform, with my long brown hair blowing in the wind and my arms crossed sternly across my chest. I carefully control the expression on my face so I show them only contempt. For a moment, seeing only their shocked faces, I begin to believe that perhaps these little girls are too afraid to fight. I am wrong.

"Flower Hurricane!" I hear the new Sailor shout, and I almost laugh. What foolishness to believe that I could be defeated by a storm of flowers. I gather my power, intending to demonstrate very violently just how misguided this insulant girl is.

But then, I catch the sweet scent of the roses as they surround me. Pink roses.

I shout, "No!" But, it is not so much a denial of what is happening to my physical body as it is a denial of the images flitting through my mind. I see pink roses. Two to be specific. One on each ear of a tall, graceful woman whose green eyes sparkle in contrast to her russet-brown hair. The memories come faster, in a scattershot of images. That first meeting when she traveled to Earth with her princess. The way she swept me off my feet, literally and figuratively, when I challenged her to a friendly match. The sparkle in her eyes when I asked her to walk with me in the royal gardens.

"This attack . . ." I remember it, too. And, it freezes me in my tracks. This was the attack she used against me that last night on the moon. It wasn't like her to hold back against an opponent, especially not when her princess and her friends were in danger. For me, she held her powers in check, using only her weakest attack. She didn't want to hurt me because she loved me. I heard it in her voice as she pleaded with me to fight with her and not against her.

I saw the love in her eyes, and the pain, as I fought through those powerful, yet delicate flowers to strike her down.

"It's blinding." I'm not sure if I mean the hurricane of pink roses that surround me now or the look of betrayal in her eyes from back then.

It doesn't matter. For even as I once again become aware of the present, I know that this night my love will take her vengeance for my sins of the past. She may not know that is what she is doing, but it is only right that she do it.

I hear her call down her true power. I watch her revel in its glory. I try to focus on her face, so that I can see those emerald-green eyes one last time. It isn't her eyes that are the last thing I see. Instead, it is her hair.

My body writhes in agony as it is burned from the inside out. But, my mind knows nothing but the memory of a very special afternoon.

She always keeps her hair up, so that it won't be in her way in battle, she says. At my request, she lets it down. And, I lovingly run my fingers through that thick brown hair. I gently kiss her check, and then whisper in her ear. "I like it down. You look so beautiful with those brown curls framing your face."

When we meet again several days later, she's done something different with her hair. It's still pulled back in a pony tail, but she's left a few strands loose on either side. The curls add a soft edge to her strong face, hinting at the gentleness that I know lies beneath the surface.

As the last moments of life descend upon me, I wonder at the fact that she still wears her hair that way. Could it be that, somewhere deep inside, she still loves me?


End file.
